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Subject: 
Re: 20 Years of TLC's Frustration with "LEGOS"
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.general, lugnet.loc.us.tx
Date: 
Thu, 29 Mar 2001 14:44:29 GMT
Reply-To: 
mattdm@mattdm.NOMORESPAMorg
Viewed: 
439 times
  
Kyle D. Jackson <flightdeck@sympatico.deletethisspamblock.ca> wrote:
But back to the note I found from LEGO, it wasn't that they were
saying that people shouldn't call other brands "LEGO", that goes
without saying.  It was that people shouldn't call actual LEGO
by "LEGOS".  That's what I found was funny.  Actually, I took it
from two points of view:

This is a misunderstanding. They didn't even consider that people might
interpret the message as saying that "LEGO" without an 'S' is the correct
plural. Instead, they're saying "LEGO", like all trademarks, is not a noun,
it's an adjective. Please don't call our product itself "legos" (or by
extension, "Lego"). Please call it "LEGO building blocks".


In any case, I found it pretty odd, and must be one of the only
examples of a company ever doing such a thing.  I haven't yet seen
Ford pleading that I not call their new small cars "Foci"  ;]

You can bet that if Ford had such a dominant marketshare that people
started calling all cars "fords", they'd be making a big deal about how you
should say "Ford automobiles" or "Ford cars" or "Ford trucks" instead.


--
Matthew Miller           mattdm@mattdm.org        <http://www.mattdm.org/>
Boston University Linux      ------>                <http://linux.bu.edu/>



Message has 2 Replies:
  Re: 20 Years of TLC's Frustration with "LEGOS"
 
(...) Just as a minor clarification, it's not entirely accurate to say that all trademarks are adjectives. Kia's "Sportage" serves both as a trademark and a noun, insofar as one doesn't say "I'm driving my Kia Sportage sport utility vehicle." It's (...) (24 years ago, 29-Mar-01, to lugnet.general)
  Re: 20 Years of TLC's Frustration with "LEGOS"
 
(...) Ahhh, now I get it. So they must be really un-impressed then that there's such a thing as LUGNET: "LEGO Users Group Network". This then implies that we are all users of the LEGO company, as there is no such thing as LEGO the product :] Should (...) (24 years ago, 30-Mar-01, to lugnet.general, lugnet.loc.us.tx)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: 20 Years of TLC's Frustration with "LEGOS"
 
(...) It's the same story in much of Canada. I suppose it could be called "brand dilution" but it's somewhat inevitable if you're the most recognized brand. And it could be a good thing, I think. LEGO claims to be gunning for that title now... (...) (24 years ago, 29-Mar-01, to lugnet.general, lugnet.loc.us.tx)

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